Sunday October 30, 2005

Sunday October 30, 2005 Zack got up at 9:00 with his friends and ate donuts before getting ready for church. He kept asking if he could ride to church with Andrew and I had to explain again why it was too soon after his accident to let him ride with other teenage drivers. Trey left with Andrew and Dan volunteered to ride with Zack so he wouldn’t feel so “weird”. Scott drops them off to worship with the high school while we go to big church. When we get out Zack is waiting for us in the atrium with Kara and Trey. They want to go to the mall and Zack says he knows I won’t let him ride with them. I tell him he looks really tired and maybe he would rather go home and rest but he insist he feels fine and wants to go with his friends. Once we get in the car he asked for my cell phone. He tells me he is going to call them and tell them to forget it. He is really tired and would rather go home and take a nap (his idea but I planted it). The girls go to Rita’s, Dylan goes with a friend to play golf and Scott has to finish a job, so Zack and I go home alone. Zack eats a quick lunch and is asleep before I can finish eating. The house is quiet and I get a chance to catch up on some reading (all brain injury stuff…real exciting). When Zack wakes up he is anxious to get out and do something. We head to church for the Sunday night Vine service and stop for something to eat at Taco Bell. When we arrive in the sanctuary we are searching for other friends that said they would be there. He finds a group of friends and we take our place in time for worship. Zack sings familiar songs and smiles at me as if to say this is where we need to be. Dave Stone is preaching and Zack is listening intently. He leans over and asked me, “How much does he make?” speaking about Dave. I tell him I don’t know and he pauses and looks around before saying, “He should make a lot of money”. When I ask him why he says, “He’s good, look at all the people here”. Later as we sing and he watches Daniel Dabney lead worship he tells me, “Look at his face. It’s special”. I look again at the worship leader, playing the guitar, his eyes closed, faced lifted and singing praises to a merciful God. He looks peaceful, almost angelic. Now I can see what Zack sees. Zack seems to have an insightfulness, yet innocence about him now. He speaks truthfully, through child like eyes. I imagine that God is pleased with that. As we walk out of the sanctuary after making plans to meet some of his friends at Dairy Queen, Zack tells me that next time he is going to hold his hands up. He is referring to the way some of his friends worship, they sing and raise their hands. He comments that Ashley does it real good and he will do it next time. He comments that Daniel Dabney is really cool and when I ask him if he wants to go meet him he thinks it’s a good idea. We walk back in to the front of the sanctuary and find Daniel. I tell him we really enjoyed worship and he asked Zack how he was doing. Zack tells him he is doing good but wants to go back to school. We head to the parking lot and Zack is energized. I tell him I like to see him this excited about going to church and he says, “They do it really good here”. I definitely agree. We meet Ashley and several other friends at Dairy Queen and Zack has a shake while they eat. When we arrive home Tiffany is waiting and Zack visits with her for a little while. As soon as she leaves he is ready for bed (he needs to make up for lost sleep on Saturday night). Tomorrow after therapy Zack has a dentist appointment. Sometime in the last week he has lost a cap off his tooth. He hasn’t been able to wear his retainer in the last four months so all the work we have done since his braces were removed needs to be started over. Hopefully we can get things straightened out without putting him back in braces. I think he has been through enough lately. I feel at peace, contented, as we close the weekend. Our new normal, although at times quite overwhelming, brings us great joy. Zack has come so far in such a short time. He continues to amaze us even when we recognize his weaknesses. Our awesome God has blessed us beyond what we could have hoped for or imagined. Pray that we will continue to be amazed at Zack’s progress. Please pray for complete recovery for Gods Glory.
“Who am I, O Lord God…that You have brought me this far?” 2 Samual 7:18